She looked so worried that Leana put her hand over her friend’s on the table. “He might jist be feelin’ a wee bit sick.”
Abi nodded, but she was unconvinced. So was Leana. She was sure it was something to do with the kiss.
Then it came to her. “Abi, whose dress is this?”
“My mother’s,” Abi replied miserably, before hastily leaving the room.
Nae wonder he wis sae upset!Leana thought.Me wearin’ his beloved wife’s dress! I should hae thought o’ it!
She sighed and poured herself a glass of mulled wine, then went to bed.
The next morning Leana decided to go home. She did not feel comfortable wearing the dress she had on the previous evening, so she put on her dirty one. It would become even dirtier walking through the heather anyway, she reasoned. Once more, Fraser had not put in an appearance at breakfast, and Leana was thankful. She wanted no more of the strained atmosphere of the previous evening.
However, she was glad to see that Abi was back to being her usual cheerful self, so she was a little loath to broach the subject that was on her mind, but Abi did it for her.
“You know why my father was upset last night?” Abi ventured.
Leana nodded. “The dress—it put him in mind of yer mither.”
Abi nodded. “Let me tell you the story,” she said sadly. She took a deep breath and began to speak. When she had finished they sat in silence for a while, holding hands across the table.
“He is no’ angry with you, darlin’,” Leana said. “He is angry with yer mither, or God. He loves ye, I promise he does.”
“That is what Rory said,” Abi murmured. “If it is true he has a strange way of showing it.”
Leana could find nothing to say to this, and they finished their meal in silence.
As Leana was about to stand up, Abi grasped her wrist.
“Stay another day!” she cried desperately.
Leana gently prised open her grip and shook her head. “I cannae, darlin',” she said regretfully. “My paw will be worried aboot me.”
Abi nodded slowly. “Of course,” she murmured, then stood up and hugged Leana. She was jealous that Leana had that kind of relationship with her father. “Please come again,” she begged.
“I doot that will happen, hen,” she replied. “But ye can aye come tae me.”
“Yes please!” Abi’s face was full of happiness as Leana walked away.
However, there was one person who was deeply unhappy to see Leana go. Fraser was watching from behind one of the crenellated walls just above the courtyard as she strode away, and he wished with every fiber of his being that he could go and carry her back.
8
Joe was very glad to see his daughter, and welcomed her with open arms as she came into the cottage. She hugged him, and he was very unwilling to let her go, but at last he did, then looked deeply into her eyes.
“Somethin’ has changed wi’ you,” he said, frowning, then he smiled. “Somethin’ good.”
“I am glad ye think so,” she laughed, thinking again of Fraser’s kiss. She had brought some food with her from the castle, and she laid it on the table then changed into her other work dress while her father kept his back turned. Neither had any privacy, but they were no worse off than countless other people.
When she had changed her clothes, Leana began to cut up some of the moist spicy cake she had brought from the castle, and gave him a glass of wine. He sipped the wine, rolled it on his tongue, and gave a sigh of satisfaction.
“That is the most wonderful thing I hae ever tasted!” he exclaimed as he rolled it around, inhaling the wine’s heady scent.
Leana smiled at him fondly. “I am so glad ye like it, Paw,” she said, kissing his forehead. “I wanted tae bring ye hame somethin’ nice an’ tasty.”
“Ye’re a good girl,” he said, kissing her hand. “An’ the man ye went tae help? Whit happened tae him?”
Leana sat down and told the story of Lachie MacAdam and how the Laird had treated him so mercifully.
